The Earth's Dynamic Cryosphere and the Earth System

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The Earth’s Dynamic Cryosphere and the Earth System Supplemental Cryosphere Notes* 1 The Earth System 6 Permafrost and Periglacial Environments By Richard S. Williams, Jr.1 By J. Alan Heginbottom,8 Jerry Brown,7 Ole Humlum,9 and Harald Svensson10 2 Global Hydrologic Cycle By Thomas G. Huntington,12 and 7 Glacier Mass Changes and Their Effect Richard S. Williams, Jr.1 on the Earth System (Sea Level) By Mark B. Dyurgerov11 (Deceased, 2009) and 3 Glaciers Mark F. Meier11 (Deceased, 2012) By Richard S. Williams, Jr.,1 Jane G. Ferrigno,2 Bruce H. Raup,14 and Jeffrey S. Kargel15 8 Ice Cores, High-Mountain Glaciers, and Climate 4 Global Snow Cover By Lonnie G. Thompson13 By Dorothy K. Hall,3 and David A. Robinson4 5 Floating Ice (Sea Ice; Lake Ice and River Ice) Sea Ice By Claire L. Parkinson,3 and Donald J. Cavalieri3 Lake Ice and River Ice By Martin O. Jeffries,5 Kim Morris,5 and Claude R. Duguay6 *The 8 Supplemental Cryosphere Notes accompany Plate 1—Earth’s Dynamic Cryosphere 1 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Woods Hole Coastal and Marine 9 University of Oslo, Department of Geography; and the University Science Center; Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway 2 USGS National Center; 10 University of Copenhagen, Department of Geography; 3 National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Goddard Space 11 University of Colorado, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research; Flight Center; 12 USGS, Maine Water Science Center; 4 Rutgers University, Department of Geography; 13 The Ohio State University, Byrd Polar Research Center; 5 University of Alaska Fairbanks, Geophysical Institute; 14 University of Colorado, National Snow and Ice Data Center; 6 University of Waterloo (Canada), Department of Geography; 15 University of Arizona, Department of Hydrology and 7 International Permafrost Association; Water Resources 8 Geological Survey of Canada, Terrain Sciences Division; U.S. Department of the Interior Professional Paper 1386-A U.S. Geological Survey December 2012.

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1 Introduction to the Cryosphere
Copyrighted Material 1 INTRODUCTION TO THE CRYOSPHERE In this place, nostalgia roams, patient as slow hands on skin, transparent as melt-water. Nights are light and long. Shadows settle on the shoulders of air. Time steps out of line here, stops to thaw the frozen hearts of icebergs. Sleep isn’t always easy in this place where the sun stays up all night and silence has a voice. —claire Beynon, “At Home in Antarctica” earth surface temperatures are close to the triple point of water, 273.16 K, the temperature at which water vapor, liquid water, and ice coexist in thermo- dynamic equilibrium. Indeed, water is the only sub- stance on Earth that is found naturally in all three of its phases. Approximately 35% of the world experi- ences temperatures below the triple point at some time in the year, including about half of Earth’s land mass, promoting frozen water at Earth’s surface. The global Marshall_FINALS.indb 1 8/24/11 8:07 AM Copyrighted Material CHAPTER 1 cryosphere encompasses all aspects of this frozen realm, including glaciers and ice sheets, sea ice, lake and river ice, permafrost, seasonal snow, and ice crystals in the atmosphere. Because temperatures oscillate about the freezing point over much of the Earth, the cryosphere is particularly sen- sitive to changes in global mean temperature. In a tight coupling that represents one of the strongest feedback sys- tems on the planet, global climate is also directly affected by the state of the cryosphere. Earth temperatures are pri- marily governed by the net radiation that is available from the Sun.
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